The Other Side
by Spinnerweb
Summary: Baldren and Audrey cared only for each other. Baldren calls Audrey the night before she leaves for Anthold, to say farewell in his own way. Heavily implied sex, and incest.


"Dirk!" Baldren said, "tell Audrey to come to my quarters alone as soon as she can."

Dirk stood there silently, his arms folded, the very image of misery.

"Go! Now!" Baldren said angrily.

"Understood," Dirk said, and left.

"Miserable puppet," Baldren said under his breath. He was already restless and worried, and Dirk couldn't even follow a simple order at once. It was November 27, and Audrey was due to leave for Anthold the next day. He worried for her safety - those cadets were more skilled than he thought - and staying away from the frontlines annoyed him anyway.

Audrey came as soon as she finished her prayers, Dirk escorting her. Baldren was waiting in his father's old room, which was far more luxurious than any in the castle. Gilbert Gassenarl may have had some wrong ideas, but he definitely had known how to live in comfort.

"Now leave us alone," Baldren said to Dirk, who said, "Understood," and obeyed.

The room was lit by candles placed behind a small statue of a Valkyrur holding a lance, so that the wall opposite caught its shadow many times bigger. The bed was so big that even the most restless sleeper or the most passionate lovers couldn't fall out of it at night.

"Baldren, what is it?" Audrey asked. "If it's about the forces, they're all ready to - "

"That's none of my concern," Baldren said. "I know you will lead them well, and with the Valkyrur watching over your unit there's no reason for us to lose this battle."

Audrey looked down. "You're just saying that," she said quietly. "Those cadets have outclassed both of us before."

Baldren's face hardened. "By pure luck."

"So if it's not about the forces, what is it?"

"Do you think that after becoming Archduke, I have only time for these things?" Baldren said. "Do you think that I've forgotten you?"

Audrey looked up. He was walking towards her. "Of course not," she said.

"Audrey," he said, his voice becoming soft and almost... _vulnerable_. "Do you know what day it is?"

"November 27."

"Ten years since we started finding solace in something we never expected... each other's bodies."

Audrey blushed. Ten years ago, after their mother's death, their father had become increasingly demanding of them - he wanted them to join the military and be high-ranking officers. Their daily regime had been unimaginably tough, and except for the few hours of sleep they manage to scrounge up, their bodies would ache from all the training. And then they started substituting their sleep, some nights, for something that if their father found out about, he would ensure they had a fate worse than death.

It had started innocently enough; Audrey's body was full of pain, so at night she made her way into Baldren's room, gently woke him up and asked him to give her a massage. They cared only for each other, no one else; so he readily agreed. But as each piece of Audrey's clothing came off, both their desires intensified and before they knew it, they succumbed to their passion.

And anytime their father had demanded too much of them, they'd done it again. It gave them great pleasure to carry on their activities right under his nose, to rebel in their own way. But they did it only ocassionally, when they were sure the door was locked or their father was out somewhere, for fear of getting caught.

And now, ten years after that first night, here they were again. They'd never done it with any other person except each other.

It was starting to rain.

Baldren pushed Audrey against the cold window, sliding his tongue into her mouth as she let a tiny gasp escape. She pushed at him as well, so much that he fell over so she was on top of him. From the floor they worked their way to the bed, and as the night wore on their passion intensified. The shadow on the wall showed both of them engaged in what they were doing beneath the statue.

At the height of their desire Audrey's leg accidentally hit the statue, knocking it over and breaking its head. But even Audrey couldn't care about that right now.

_An hour later_

Audrey lay in bed under the covers, still awake, stroking Baldren's chest. He was sleeping. She regretted breaking the Valkyrur statue, and her Valkyrian spiral pendant had ended up on the ground, but what she had done was worth it. It was almost time for her to get ready to go to Anthold.

"Goodbye, Baldren," she said, planting one last kiss on his lips. "I'll be back."

The morning after the next Baldren heard that she had been killed at Anthold.

**A/N: Just because I wrote this, does not indicate that I am in favour of incest as I am not.**


End file.
